Jane Litte's Blog, page 890

REVIEW: Deep Desires by Charlotte Stein

Dear Charlotte Stein:

I picked up your novella, Deep Desires, after Mandi at Smexy Books recommended it. Mandi was very enthusiastic about this book, and it sounded different, so even though I hadn’t read any of your previous works, I went for it.

[image error]Abbie, the narrator of the story, is a survivor of an abusive relationship. She is living in an apartment complex called The Courtyard and working at a grocery store partly in order to keep a low profile. She is afraid of getting into another relation...

REVIEW: A Night of No Return by Sarah Morgan

Dear Ms. Morgan:

The length of the book was felt keenly in this story. While the story has a believable conflict and is well written, the truncated ending left me feeling unsatisfied.

[image error]Lucas Jackson is a wealthy man who has no interest in any personal entanglements. This is due to some dark secret that he alludes to frequently in the beginning of the book but is not fully revealed until the latter half of the story. This secret despair drives him to drink himself senseless on the anniversary of...

Wednesday News: Harlequin lawsuit updates; Facebook men try to shame 12 year old girls by calling them sluts; Richard Curtis thinks trad publishers should rethink digital first.

Harlequin files motion to dismiss – (The link is a PDF document) On October 19, 2012, Harlequin filed a motion to dismiss to the lawsuit for additional royalties brought by a putative (not yet certified) class of authors who signed contracts with Harlequin between 1990 and 2004. (See original coverage of the petition here)

In the answer, Harlequin essentially says “so what.” It agrees that the contract dispute is over the All Other Rights clause under which author’s royalties were based not o...

Daily Deals: Republished backlist titles for contemporary, romantic suspense readers

[image error] A Kiss in Winter by Susan Crandall. $ 2.99

From the Jacket Copy:

Six years ago tragedy struck and Caroline Rogers had to make tough decisions to sell the family farm and put her life on hold to raise her younger siblings. Now that they’re entering adulthood and her long-delayed photography career is taking off, she can almost taste the freedom.

Shaken by self-doubt, Dr. Mick Larsen turns his back on his big-city psychiatric practice and settles for the small-town quiet of Redbud Mill, where he c...

REVIEW: Forged in Fire by Trish McCallahan

Dear Ms. McCallahan:

I borrowed this book through the Kindle Lending Library which allows me to borrow one book per month from my Kindle device. The one thing done well in this story was the suspense because nearly everyone is in jeopardy and bad things happen to even the “good” people but part of the high body count made this book almost laughable.

[image error]The story takes place over a couple of days. Beth Brown works as an engineer support staff for Pan America. She has a pyschic dream of a Pan Americ...

REVIEW: Conduct Unbecoming by L.A. Witt

Dear Ms. Witt,

You’ve been reviewed at DA a lot but never by me so when I saw you had a new book out, I grabbed the chance to check out your writing. DADT is history now so what else is there to keep two men in love apart when they’re both in the military? The age old separation of officers and enlisted personnel, that’s what. Here it doesn’t matter if it’s heterosexual, homosexual, or lesbian – an officer and an enlisted person simply can’t mix it up. You hammer this risk home for most of th...

Tuesday News: Amazon removes access of books to a consumer; Amazon forcing Publishers to pay increased VAT; Amazon cracks down on positive reviews

FTC Publishes Facial Recognition Guidelines – While the FTC can’t impose criminal remedies, it can seek an injunction and a corresponding fine if a company is found to violate a regulation. Because facial recognition software has become so commonplace that even your iPhoto or Facebook can run it, the FTC has sought to reign in uses that might invade one’s privacy “Some of the guidelines the FTC offers seem like no-brainers: Don’t put facial recognition technology “in sensitive areas, such as...

Ladysplaining the Value of A Literary Culture for Commercial Fiction

LOL Cat from I Can Haz Cheezburger

A few weeks ago, Jon Stock made a definite name for himself as an author, but not for his books. Stock, erstwhile journalist for The Telegraph, emailed a reviewer who gave his spy thriller a one-star Amazon review, turning the experience into an article titled, “Spy Writer Jon Stock: How I Survived A Literary Mauling.” According to Stock:

To be fair to my latest Amazon reviewer, she is not your average punter. She is a professor of English at the State Univers...

Daily Deals: Scottish historicals, AA contemporary, and a collection of horror stories

Escape to Paradise (Kimani Romance) by Pamela Yaye. $ 1.85

From the Jacket Copy:

Desperate to flee the breaking scandal swirling around her ex, event coordinator Claudia Jefferies flies to exotic Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. As if being pampered at an exclusive spa weren’t enough, now a drop-dead-gorgeous man is showering her with attention! But Claudia’s too smart to get seriously involved, especially with a heartbreaker like Santiago Medina. If only her heart would listen to her head.…

From the mom...

REVIEW: A Touch of Confidence by Jess Dee

WARNING: This review, like A Touch of Confidence, contains lots of sexually explicit language.

Dear Ms. Dee,

For readers who don’t want to spend their time reading a review of a novella I found weak, here’s a quick summary:

[[Visit blog to check out this spoiler]]

For readers who would like a bit more explanation, here goes.

For a romance novel to work, there must be a conflict, something that prevents the hero and heroine from easily finding regular raunchy and/or restful joy in one another’s arm...